Originally Posted by
mattbur
I think I've settled on the Garmin Touring GPS. I've heard some negatives about the Touring but with it being my first attempt at this technology I'll go with the less expensive model for now.
I never found the Touring to work very well (even with the latest firmware, which is almost a year old) when using loaded routes.
Also, the Touring doesn't really support "course points", which are basic but still useful.
The "special" feature of the Touring is that it provides more options for generating routes on the device. It can generate a few "loop routes" based on distance and elevation. Routes based on elevation will only work in the unit's home region (for example, a North American unit won't be able to generate routes based on elevation in Europe). You can also have it generate a route connecting multiple places (it's kind of tedious to use).
I think the 820 and "higher" units have the same special options.
Beng able to generate routes on the device is useful but, sometimes, the routes are wacky.
I think most people use these by downloading route files to the device.
The Touring would be a great unit if it worked reliably (and supported course points properly).
I'd go with the 800 (even though it's "old" it works at least as well as the newer units for route following) or the 810 over the Touring.
Originally Posted by
mattbur
Have not decided on which program to use yet. It will likely be RWGPS as I just joined it to see what they had to offer on the free service. I don't quite understand a lot of the terminologies yet so I can't really say if the paid program is for me or not.
Ridewithgps is a great route planning site. It's
very usable without a subscription. (Note that the subscription is month-to-month, which means you can try it for a short while. But use the free version for a while.)